"Calif. prison psychologist accused of faking rape" by Don Thompson Associated Press / December 9, 2011
SACRAMENTO, Calif.—She split her own lip with a pin, scraped her knuckles with sandpaper and had her friend punch her in the face. Investigators say she even ripped open her blouse, then wet her pants to give the appearance she had been knocked unconscious.
But it was all part of what authorities said Friday was an elaborate hoax by the woman to convince her husband she was raped so they could move to a safer neighborhood.
Charges filed by the Sacramento County district attorney allege Laurie Ann Martinez, a prison psychologist, conspired with the friend to create the appearance that she was beaten, robbed and raped by a stranger in April in her Sacramento home.
Martinez, her friend and two co-workers eventually told police the whole thing was a setup to convince Martinez's husband that they needed to move from a blighted, high-crime area three miles north of the state Capitol.
It didn't work. Instead, the couple filed for divorce six weeks after the April 10 incident, according to court records.
"If all you wanted to do is move, there's other ways than staging a burglary and rape," said Sacramento police Sgt. Andrew Pettit. "She went to great lengths to make this appear real."
Martinez, 36, a psychologist for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, reported she had come home that day to find a stranger in her kitchen, authorities said.
"As she tried to run away, the suspect grabbed her and hit her in the face," court records say in describing what she told police. "She lost consciousness and then when she awoke she found her pants and underwear pulled down to her ankles."
Missing from her home were two laptop computers, Martinez's purse, an Xbox video game console, a camera and numerous credit cards that Martinez said the stranger had stolen.
In reality, the items were all at the home of her friend, Nicole April Snyder, authorities allege. Investigators say Martinez had Snyder punch her in the face with boxing gloves they bought for that purpose.
Martinez began crying hysterically when police arrived, according to court papers....
Maybe she can treat herself while she is in prison.
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Turns out she won't be going there:
"Ex-psychologist sentenced in staged rape" Associated Press, January 27, 2012
SACRAMENTO - A former California prison psychologist accused of staging a home invasion and sexual assault pleaded no contest to a felony conspiracy charge.
Prosecutors say Laurie Ann Martinez, 36, of Sacramento committed the elaborate hoax to persuade her husband that they needed to move.
In Sacramento County Superior Court on Wednesday, Martinez was sentenced to five years of probation and 180 days of electronic monitoring. She was also ordered to pay more than $4,000 in restitution for the police investigation.
According to the criminal complaint, Martinez rubbed sandpaper on her knuckles, ripped her blouse off to expose her top, dropped her pants to her ankles, and “urinated on herself to make officers believe she had lost consciousness,’’ the Sacramento Bee reported.
The women also removed two laptop computers, credit cards, a video game console, purse, and camera from Martinez’s home and hid them, according to the complaint.
Snyder, who cooperated with the investigation, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor and was sentenced Wednesday to three years of probation. She was also ordered to do community service and pay restitution.
Prosecutors called Martinez’s behavior outrageous, saying it undermined the interests of true sexual assault victims.
Martinez’s attorney, Michelle Spaulding, said her client is “glad this is over and she would like to get her life back together.’’
Martinez has since lost her psychologist license and was fired from the Sacramento state prison in December.
Online court records show that her husband filed for divorce a month after she filed the false report, according to the Sacramento Bee.
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